The Rise and Fall of Board James | A Cinemassacre Story

[@spaghettiking7312]

Without Bootsy, Mike, Kyle Justin, Cinemassacre is just... not the same. We all feel that inside.

[@shattaredentertainment4782]

I think james turning the show into a series (and a horror based one) ruined the show. It was fun just to watch friends play games. Crossfire is a great example.

[@Bloody-Butterfly]

I don’t blame James for not wanting to talk about the drama between his friends. I would feel the same way.

[@neoturfmasterMVS]

To bad he couldn't have patched things up. Be humble, talk to both Mike and Bootsy and recognize he couldn't do things alone on or off camera and draw closers to friends. Instead he outsourced to Screenwave and well, there goes the onion. Sh!t. We just ran out of time.

[@wastedtalent666]

​@@neoturfmasterMVStoo*

[@asneakylawngnome5792]

Honestly, kinda scary how the art imitates life. Idk if James is still friends with Mike, or even talk, but the fact that it’s they’re two ghosts that haunt James, and the fact they all split, is really haunting. The part that really hurts though, is that Board James and Monster Madness proves that he can do stuff other than AVGN related stuff. He’s just gotta reignite that passion. Honestly, I still support him and his channel when I can, too bad it ain’t much. :( wish I could support Bootsy and Kyle too, although I like Mike, I can’t stand him raging out all the time.

[@bottombarrelbudgetfilms1854]

Can confirm James and Mike are still friends and they do talk just not nearly as often. Booty I don't know but I doubt it.

[@leeartlee915]

Yeah, Mike and James are still friends on some level (only they will know the extant of it). Like most relationships in life, if you stop working with someone and also start having kids, you tend to see those people less and less. In addition, there was obviously some tension going on at the end of their partnership. I’m willing to bet that Mike and James relationship will go one of two ways. 1) They will interact less and less until they are people that use to know one another 2) Enough time will pass and they will reignite their friendship. Bootsy is much more obvious. He has said in post confirmed to be him that he feels slighted by James and company and is no longer in contact with any of them.

[@sonicmastersword8080]

Board James was impressive. It had remarkable production value for what it was trying to be, and is arguably his most unique series by far.

[@OSW]

This was a well-made review of Board James, paced well - I like how you hit the big episodes that forward the plot, as opposed to every one. Insight + reverence for the source material, pleasant voice -- hope u cover more Cinemassacre projects!

[@ScottyDunn]

Hey thank you! I'll be doing the AVGN movie next.

[@djhenyo]

@@ScottyDunn You're probably aware judging by the video filters, but Cinemassacre-Screenwave has become known for copyright striking even mild criticism videos. Godspeed on this journey of exposing what lay beyond their facade.

[@ScottyDunn]

@@djhenyo thanks for wishing me Godspeed 😎 I do feel that I’m fair using the crap out of the subject matter so I feel pretty optimistic.

[@jeniffer9248]

Welcome Noggers!

[@monsieurdubitatif8567]

@@jeniffer9248 happy days are here again!

[@Jared_Wignall]

Board James was great. It’s unfortunate that things between Bootsy and Mike became bad, but I guess that may be bound to happen when you work with a childhood friend. Regarding DVD/Blu-Ray sales, those would generally go towards not just the company that makes those, but James as well since he was the head of the show being the lead, writer, director, producer, etc. I know a lot has been said regarding payment for Bootsy as well as Kyle. When they were all working together, I’m sure they were all having a good time and enjoying working together and so any payment may not have been seen as a necessity from their perspectives at the time, as friends do do things with or for each other without any sort of expected monetary payment. Now as soon as ways are parted and if they get to thinking then perhaps some would think they wish they got paid for their work helping make something with a friend of theirs. Now, Bootsy got paid for his editing, though it looks like Kyle didn’t get paid for his work, at least not that we know of. Again, I go back to when they’re all friends getting paid to help out might not enter the mind at all, but after all is said and done and people have moved on, they might think about how they could have been paid. Screenwave coming in doesn’t seem to have helped matters regarding Bootsy and Kyle staying on, particularly with Kyle as it seems he wasn’t sure he was fond of how the channel was heading in with the help James was having with his future videos and it looks like recently James has done more videos on his own in the sense that there’s little to no influence of Screenwave beyond editing. I know James tried to contact Kyle as he said so in one of the podcast episodes, but nothing has come of that. Who knows if he’s tried to contact Bootsy, especially since he was Mike’s friend originally and so if he had perhaps he just hasn’t said as he might not want to upset Mike. I’ll just say, I like it when James has, or at least appears to have have more control of the channel. It was quite abrupt to just having them in videos out of nowhere. A video letting people know what was going to happen would have been good rather than just have those who are mainly to be behind the scenes show up on camera and be taken aback. While Mike is still working with James here and there while he’s mostly doing twitch, it would be cool if James is able to get ahold of Kyle and Bootsy and just talk to them. Even if they all never work on anything again, if they all just talk and everyone sort of says their peace, I think that would be good for everyone. I don’t think James has any real hard feelings for the two of them leaving, though when talking about Kyle I think it shows that it’s a bit sensitive and he might wish things were better between the two of them. I wish them all the best in what they’re doing and hope they’re able to reconnect at some point. Great video man.

[@BamesIntendoNerd]

Bootsy still takes subtle digs at Cinemassacre on twitter from time to time. Like during the plagiarism scandall. Bootsy and Kyle did a LOT free work in the form of acting, music and set building and couldn't even get a cut of the DVD sales or youtube monetization. Then Screenwave Media comes in and takes 20% of the DVD & monetization revenue of all those old videos they didn't work on but Kyle & Bootsy did. I can understand why they don't want anything to do with James & Mike anymore.

[@ScottyDunn]

Yeah that’s a good point. Bootsy and Mike deserved that percentage infinitely more than Screenwave.

[@zachary_attackery]

what did he say about the plagiarism thing?

[@BamesIntendoNerd]

@@zachary_attackery He retweeted some old tweets by the Webster's dictionary account about the word plagiarism

[@bpc1003]

Bootsy was my favorite part of the show

[@FrancisJFox]

Love the Bootsy Bounce into the room ~

[@bottombarrelbudgetfilms1854]

Good thing the algorithm passed this onto me, I've been a fan of Cinemassacre since like 2008 and I miss when James had legit friends with him instead of ... Silverman.

[@leeartlee915]

To be fair, he’s stopped with all that “I don’t have enough time” and has seriously demoted the screen wave folks.

[@pensacolian211]

So the AVGN movie started filming on April Fools Day? Interesting. In regards to Board James, though, I think it's the best thing James has ever done. If not for the overcomplicated nonsensical ending it would be perfect, but it really went off the rails there at the end. I've watched the finale as well as the video where he tried to explain it many times, and it's still difficult to comprehend it all. It's like he had all these different ideas on how to end it, and rather than pick the best one he just shoved them all in instead.

[@YuzoKoshiroSan]

Board James was such a bless, clearly the golden times of James Rolfe in general. When Bootsy entered the stage, it became my favorite show on his channel. For me the first signs of the downfall were the focus of horror-related stuff at the end of season 2 and season 3 overall. I know James is a horror guy, but Board James was better when they just reviewed games while having fun. All this "lore" about Board James himself, his dead/not so dead friends and his explanation video about all this was too much. Too bad James will never release sich a wholesome show like Board James ever again.

[@pureo_nikku]

Just a great time for me to get into AVGN around 2012, within a few years I was catching up on that + J&M + Board James. I like how S2 introduces a new character and lets you settle in before bringing back the horror with Dream Phone. The music track in that by Bootsy and the female singer will always stick out in my mind.

[@ScottyDunn]

I can't say enough how much I enjoy Board James. So fun and also it's cool to see all those old board games again.

[@Randomark3087]

I could see Mike being jealous of Bootsy. Mike is very talented, but he always seemed....egotistical.

[@ScottyDunn]

Yeah I got that sense too.

[@kisubags437]

Board James is my fav series and I will regularly go and watch it. I ended up being a huge Bootsy fan just because he seems like such a chill guy to hang out with. Where Mike and James often seem like they have large egos (which is fine) Bootsy seemed so chill. Trading Mike and Bootsy for those other dudes tho….geez I couldn’t watch any of those movie store reviews cause those dudes were all just douche bags trying hard to be too cool for anything popular or mainstream.

[@WashupCyclone]

Really unfortunate that Bootsy was not compensated for his work on the series. He probably would still be around if that were not the case. As for Mike, I’ve heard the stories of him doing some questionable things as the admin on their fan forum. It makes sense that James would want him out of the spotlight.

[@crazysilly2914]

some racist and shreksual things, right?

[@SoulforSale]

Do you know what's bull 💩? Nobody ever mentions my favorite Cinemassacre series.

[@CGMedia2023]

I loved Board James but frankly, it was NEVER going to top Mr Bucket. As for Mattei, he was a bit of an asshole with fans and other creators offscreen. He single handedly created the animosity between the AVGN and their fans and the Irate Gamer. This happened with Weekend Game Guy and Happy Video Game Nerd as well. The sole reason why Doug Walker and Spoony avoided this was because they never tried to email him, they met him in person and were able to avoid the middleman. Over time Mike got worse and worse with fans and got extremely antagonistic with fans on a daily basis when James ways away making his movie. Some aspects of Mike's presence is missed, but the bad outweighed the good.

[@guyincognito959]

Bootsy was simply the better actor of the three. Mike had no real...role? And Mike is not the nerd either. So he is the third wheel in that constellation. At least that is how I see it, how it felt to watch these shows. Fun and well produced, but Mike kind of did not fit into the whole thing, which is sad really considering all this info here...

[@ScottyDunn]

Yep.

[@HoT_ToucH]

Great job with this one, I saw this and the Avgn movie back to back, I’m a huge fan of James and his work (Minus the film, it’s terrible) And I have to say you went into the character and the drama without anything offensive towards the actual people behind the scenes and did some quick dives that gave me more insight than I previously had, I subscribed, Keep up the good work! And more avgn videos are always welcome 💫

[@ScottyDunn]

Hey thanks Ruben! I appreciate you subscribing and commenting. If you get any ideas for AVGN videos you'd want to see, let me know.

[@8void8]

good take on the event, nice video! It's regretful Bootsy wasn't compensated for his most important contributions to the series

[@ScottyDunn]

Thanks! Yeah Bootsy was undervalued. I hope they can all move past it and make peace one day.

[@HiGlowie]

I miss Bootsy. James did him dirty.

[@ScottyDunn]

I miss Bootsy too.

[@thesegacampgamerandwerecam7504]

I stopped watching Cinemassacre after 2020 after James and Mike Mondays got Discontinued because of Mike leaving Cinemassacre I stopped watching the Episodes completely if the AVGN Series came to an End? I wouldn't shed Tears about it anyway because Screenwave Media has Corrupted everything about Cinemassacre also "WHO IS SCREENWAVE MEDIA?" I'm not joking I never heard of them before they took over Cinemassacre! just some Random Production Company that came out of the Blue!

[@GinaDunn]

I love the music Bootsy did and would totally buy an album from it.

[@ScottyDunn]

Can’t get the Dream Phone song out of my head.

[@wills.364]

I want to see mischief night get made into a real board game. I missed the old days of AVGN and Kyle Justin playing the guitar

[@idontevenknow9758]

I LOVED board James; it sparked my love for board games down the road and now I'm a collector. I also have an admiration for the older stuff that's out there, especially in the Dark Fantasy genre from Dragon Strike which got me into those kinds of games and eventually dungeons and dragons. While I enjoy retro games, I feel the board game community is come of the most passionate and have some of the interesting games I've ever seen and played. I wish they continued the series but after a while I noticed it just stopped and I forgot about it as Tabletop (a Geek and Sundary show) and other board game focused channels began to really take off. I had no idea all this drama took place behind the scenes. Its a shame.

[@patreckfarley6905]

This was really well done. I’ve always been a huge fan of James Rolfe and everyone who helped him as well. Thanks for taking the time to make a video on one of my favorite content creators out there. I wish we had more answers about it all too but it doesn’t hurt to dive back into the good old days sometimes. =]

[@ScottyDunn]

It was my pleasure man! Thank you. I love what he and the guy have created. James is a legened.

[@crazysilly2914]

@@ScottyDunn I think James is socially awkward, so he would rather run away from controversy rather than confront it head-on

[@AWF1000]

it felt legit with james, mike and bootsy. with these screenwave guys, it feels so fake and that james rolfe is doing a job obligation and not passion anymore..

[@atomicbarbarian7372]

Leave the guy alone. Stop obsessing over him and move on with your lives if you don't like the new content. It's embarrassing.

[@phillo3669]

I love Board James too. I definetly think it's Rolfe's best work and also his personal passion project. (I also like their MIMAL special vey much too) It is sad to see it Cinemassacre fall apart like this though, with their worst shit - AVGN, being probably the only surviving thing out of all their cool projects.

[@ruko9876]

A good video recapping what went wrong at Cinemassacre. Well done!

[@ScottyDunn]

Thank you I appreciate that.

[@sueblantin5966]

Hopefully everything gets patched up and everyone will look back at this time as the Board James Dark Years

[@ScottyDunn]

Yep. Dark times behind the scenes but they definitely made a great series with Board James in general. Wish they’d get back together and make another season to bury the hatchet.

[@Genethagenius]

I miss Mike and Bootsy play and also James & Mike Mondays!

[@drcidd8153]

I honestly hated mike when he first came on the show. He felt so antithetical to James that it seemed like he wasn't a good fit for the channel. I also wasn't too keen on bootsy at first either. But both of them really grew on me over time. So much that I was sad to see either of them go. And being a guitarist myself, was obviously disappointed to see Kyle slowly fade away from the channel too. It's disappointing to see everything that's become of the cinemassacre brand over the years. James is clearly burned out and needs some other kind of creative outlet. Because AVGN has become a job that he doesn't like doing anymore. And it's evident. Also...I really love how nonchalantly you stated that Bootsy got his dick bit off by a shark. Sub earned.

[@ScottyDunn]

Thanks for commenting and I appreciate the sub! 🤓 thank you Dr Cidd

[@OpenMawProductions]

There's something really funny about people with a fraction of a fraction of a fraction of the audience of James Rolfe basically making a cottage industry out of throwing shade on him. "The Rise and Fall of AVGN." "The Downfall of Cinemassacre" put out by people with thousands of views to his millions. James, Mike, Bootsy, Kyle, etc all put in the work to make that thing what it was and what it still is to this day. It's a money making machine. Do we have to like it? No, but people act like James owes anyone anything at all. He doesn't. He's given us quite a few hours of his life as an entertainer. He's tried and failed, and he's tried and succeeded. Nobody is perfect. People should be taken all this energy they have at throwing shade on AVGN and actually trying to make things of their own that people will even remotely care about.

[@ScottyDunn]

I like the fans of Avgn who have nuance and can see love with criticism. I can see you are something else. Get some sunshine and have a laugh 😆

[@Pundit07]

@@ScottyDunn Maybe I’m playing Devil’s Advocate here, but I never got the vibe that he was talking about you specifically. If anything I believe that he was referring to all those “Truthers” on that subreddit who obsess over James’ personal life.

[@FarleyProductions]

One of my new favorite videos from you Scotty! Good job! 👍

[@ScottyDunn]

I really appreciate that Patreck!

[@hanchiman]

I always thought Mike and James were relatives, or I read it wrong that they were cousins or something

[@michaelt7209]

I miss the original crew, Mike has his annoying or weird moments but still nice to watch him do skits with James. Kyle Justin the singer was really funny and underrated. Bootsy is of course fun to watch. The new guys are so uninteresting and awkward with even james that I wonder why the channel has so many subs now than before. Also Mike is definitely the type of guy who likes to bitch and moan about other people's work even if they're doing more Than a fair share. And the one who holds a grudge.

[@HideousKojimbob]

Great video! Big Ryan fan here btw

[@ScottyDunn]

Thanks 😆

[@DonSeriously-is9lb]

u know when board james did the video on board games form video games i’m surprised he didn’t incorporate the fact he made a street fighter board game when he was young. plus making the deadly danger dungeon game using the mario piece should of been referenced and how that game was so much more interesting with all the deaths then super mario bros board game. actually if u combined both his game and the mario board game you might actually make a fun and enjoyable game out of the 2… just watched them again earlier and it came to mind…..

[@LeDardeursPalace]

I cannot imagine being an adult making videos about that one youtube channel I don't like anymore. Yours isn't crazy like some others though, i've seen 5 hours videos on cinemassacre. I'd love to pay for these people's therapy, they need it.

[@pauls4522]

Was not really a fan of season 3 of board james anyway. It had the C-Grade Nostagia Critic feel with all the goofing around and could not be taken seriously watching it. Yet all you really wanted to see was a concrete answer from what happened with Dream Phone. Instead it was random dramatic monkey garbage. Its a shame too because Season 1 and 2 were great...

[@Arcexey]

after all these years (Decades) I finally understand that Board James is a play on Board Games. board Games... board James... Games... James... wow. I must be subhuman

[@justlaura7177]

Interesting deep dive! I remember you showing me AVGN when we were younger. But you left out one detail: you also annoyed your SISTER with the cheating and bailing 🙈😝😏

[@ScottyDunn]

Lol. You’re such a good sport 😄! We should play games again. I’ve changed…very little.

[@justlaura7177]

@@ScottyDunn ha! The sad thing is, I’m still interested in taking you up on that lol

[@ScottyDunn]

@@justlaura7177 We need to play Mario Kart or something. I want to play GoldenEye 64 again. When you come over we can play a game of something! Or Johnny could just bring the PS4.

[@justlaura7177]

@@ScottyDunn yes!!

[@VashStarwind]

I think this video was ok, but the Channels you recommended at the end are just plain cringe. Trying to build your channel off of another popular channel is about the cringiest thing ever.

[@DonSeriously-is9lb]

do you know why board James ended? Because James wasn’t bored anymore!😂

[@Usuarillo1412]

I subbed just now expecting an AVGN movie review. I hope you deliver, pimp.

[@ScottyDunn]

Thank you, I will make the AVGN movie review next 😎

[@justingochioco1121]

My favorite episode is the board games based on video games

[@ScottyDunn]

Yeah I like that episode too.

[@yulligoteckg2]

I love board James, some of the episodes has some fun inde horror feel to it.

[@JarlStaubhold]

Nice vid! No wonder I enjoyed The Last Ninja episode so much...

[@ScottyDunn]

Thank you! Yeah The Last Ninja episode gave me hope for a course correction. Would be epic to have Mike and Bootsy make a return to the channel. It’s unlikely though.

[@tonymarsala6939]

Good video I agree with you on this and the avgn movie as well

[@syles0003]

Very well done! I'll definitely be checking out more of your videos.

[@ScottyDunn]

Hey thank you Syles!

[@theonebegotten]

Weeja board. That's a first.

[@ScottyDunn]

And probably the last 🥸

[@Heinrich99]

I was hoping he was going to do grape escape😂

[@bloodstainedphilosophy4010]

Where's that video where Bootsy says why do I work for this guy? I tried to find it and can't find it anymore.

[@ScottyDunn]

Around 26:10 mark on the 2015 Board James Documentary

[@FrancisJFox]

I watched the Lady Emily movie - it was fantastic…

[@DecadesApartProductions]

I came back to this because it was one of the first videos of yours I saw. I gotta ask, does your cousin Andy also astral project?

[@ScottyDunn]

That’s cool to hear! Always interesting to hear what people’s first video of mine was. My real cousin Andy doesn’t astral projection unfortunately… and it’s something that I won’t let him live down.

[@StippleAlpha]

These videos are really high quality; I don't know why nobody's watching them!

[@ScottyDunn]

Thanks! It doesn’t help that this particular video is age restricted for some weird reason.

[@MrLourie]

Interesting video. I like many different boardgames, but I'm not familiar with the topic of the video. Perhaps I'll look into it.

[@ScottyDunn]

Board Games are a lost art. I remember they were a much bigger deal in the 80’s and 90’s.

[@MrLourie]

@@ScottyDunn They've reissued many of the most popular boardgames in packaging that looks like a uniform set of books so they can be displayed on a shelf.

[@justlaura7177]

Oh I’d disagree. Board games are still pretty huge on KZbin and tons of new ones are made all the time

[@ScottyDunn]

Oh that’s awesome! I just looked these up and it’s a space saver and a cool display choice for sure. They need to do one for 13 Dead End Drive.

[@ScottyDunn]

It just felt like in the 90’s it was even bigger. Like it’s hard to imagine most kids today being interested in it because video games are more popular. It’s good to know that board games aren’t extinct and are still appreciated.

[@dudestep]

My guess is that the downfall was brought about by drugs. You can tell all three of those guys are massive coke heads.

[@anth636]

???

[@ekahnoman7331]

So why didn't James just pay his friend Bootsy? Is he really that selfish and greedy? Whenever I've asked a friend for help in getting something done, I've always insisted on paying. If they say no, I'll make up for it in a birthday gift or at least dinner.

[@kingraisin]

another amazing video! thank you!

[@ScottyDunn]

Thank you! 🙏

[@josephb4086]

Bootsy was my favorite on cinemassacre. Board James was the best they ever did on the entire channel. To bad they are all mentally, well, delayed or something as it really shows. Bootsy seemed the most interesting and intelligent out of the bunch. Wish them all the best.

[@Grochlink]

Imagine throwing away Bootsy to keep Mike.

[@yoshineitor]

So they didn't pay Bootsy well enough and when he demanded compensation (and probably better treatment) Mike got pissed, got it.

[@Xegethra]

I never drew board games much as a kid. But I made loads of pirate treasure maps.

[@happyjay299]

Funny enough I’m looking for a ouji board right now for my movie I’m shooting tomorrow

[@ScottyDunn]

Be careful, that board is creepy.

[@happyjay299]

@@ScottyDunn so I hear lol

[@tonyseyffer8254]

Does anyone know whatever happened to Kyle Justin? Last time I saw him on anything AVGN related was when he did a guest appearance on the "Ikari Warriors" video, and that was almost 10 years ago. Plus they don't really use his version of the AVGN theme song anymore, nowadays they use this 8-bit rendition. Are him and James still friends?

[@ScottyDunn]

I think James and Kyle are still friends. They just don’t see each other very often anymore. I wish we could get a more detailed answer from either Kyle or James. In one of the podcast episodes Cinemasscre did, James said that he couldn’t even get a hold of Kyle because he’s busy with his family and work. I think James was trying to collaborate with him on something. If anyone has more info, feel free to chime in.

[@maxxdahl6062]

@@ScottyDunn I've heard the exact opposite, that both him and Bootsy refuse to answer James if he calls. No idea how true it is though.

[@billwilson1079]

Cuz scotty Dunn know ooooh scotty Dunn know ooo, so dont tell scotty cuz scotty dunn know scotty dunn know.

[@Xarfax321]

But now Mike is gone from Cinemassacre! Can't Bootsy come back? :O

[@newjerseydiesel8962]

That’s a bummer to learn, Mike’s always been the worst for me

[@thefonzkiss]

Mike doesn’t actually know anything about gaming, that’s pretty obvious.

[@michaelleddy3701]

Those guys are redcow are boring and floss over themselves as they talk about James

[@deadshotninja4852]

James has a family and we should respect him for that

[@IDHLEB]

Most of hard working film directors have families. Should they stop and throw their friends unded the bus too?

[@foxdragon88]

Well made video on a good topic.

[@ScottyDunn]

Glad you enjoyed it! Thank you.

[@foxdragon88]

@@ScottyDunn no thank you for the solid video!

[@EirkenElite]

I watch just about everything on that channel my fav is rental reviews...I feel like James problem is he doesn't commit very long term to his ideas....rental reviews... Their podcast ... The James edits of movies... Theirs a couple more

[@crazysilly2914]

nobody likes rental reviews lol

[@LeechWoman]

horrible channel it has become. i'm sad.

[@srazysnake0221]

fall?

[@VideoHeadMan]

I have no fucking clue why everyone suddenly is in love with Bootsy like he's Pete Best and James and Mike are John and Paul. He sucked, He got greedy, give it a rest.

[@AJTComicsBrand]

Boosty got mad at the 2016 elections.

[@suicidesqueeze]

Riding coattails

[@reinforcedpenisstem]

You maintain there was 6 year peak?